Reykjavik, Iceland (Photo: Getty Images)For Combining Big City Fun with Lovely Vistas
Start in pretty Reykjavik, with its postcard-perfect harbor, its houses painted in vivid primary colors, and its nightlife that doesn’t stop until morning, especially during the white nights of summer. Great restaurants abound. If touring time is short, put The Settlement Museum, with its almost intact Viking longhouse dating back to 871 A.D., at the top of the list. Real romance, however, lies in the glorious scenery of the Golden Circle, along the country’s south coast. Do it in a day, stopping at Pingvellir National Park, where the North American and European tectonic plates meet, and where an early, oral legal system was devised. Stop at Geysir, the hot (very hot) geothermal eruption that occurs every five minutes and that gave its name to geysers all over the world. Don’t miss the glorious Gulfoss Falls, the roiling water often topped by a perfect rainbow. Savor the beauty of a landscape dotted by sheep and tiny Icelandic horses. Back in Reykjavik, soothe your souls in the Blue Lagoon, where you can smear each other with white mud and bask in a giant 100-degree geothermal pool, before heading to the airport.
